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Asian Bioethics Review (ABR)
True to its aim of creating excellence in Biomedical Ethics in an Asian context, the Centre has been publishing the Asian Bioethics Review (ABR), a peer reviewed quarterly journal since December 2008. With its focus on what is Asian in the field of bioethics, while recognising that identifying what makes the region’s bioethics Asian is an ongoing task, the ABR gives a platform for insightful and challenging debates and discussion on Bioethics in an Asian context, and also in a wider international context.
For more information about ABR, visit: http://www.asianbioethicsreview.com
Capacity Development in Biomedical Ethics in Singapore-Funding Initiative (FI)
The Centre has been awarded a grant of S$4.6 million for Capacity Development in Biomedical Ethics in Singapore by the National Research Foundation for the period from January 2008 to March 2011, with a grant extension from April 2011 to March 2014.
The grant will fund the following key initiatives:
- research support for the work of the Singapore Bioethics Advisory Committee
- workshops and seminars for biomedical researchers, IRB members and clinicians
- regional conferences, using international experts
- public education in biomedical ethics, including a programme for schools and junior colleges
The grant will also enable collaboration with the Hastings Center, New York, to:
- launch an online scholarly journal, the Asian Bioethics Review (ABR), in collaboration with the Hastings Center Report.
- fund visits of selected key personnel in Singapore to study at the Hastings Center.
There are currently four academic staff plus one administrative staff supporting this project.
Clinical Ethics Network Training, Research and Support (CENTRES)
The Ministry of Health, Singapore has funded and appointed CBmE to lead an initiative to develop a one-stop resource for hospital clinical ethics committees (CECs) providing access to a rich repository of ethics material, an online forum that will stimulate discussion and knowledge sharing and a series of training workshops on key issues facing these committees.
CENTRES will:
- Provide access to content through the CENTRES web portal
- Develop competencies through training workshops
- Facilitate connections through interactive discussion channels and an international advisory panel of experts
In addition, a CENTRES Quarterly Newsletter will keep members apprised of updates in the field of clinical ethics decision making.
The funding from the Ministry of Health supported the appointment of two new staff and operating costs for the period October 2009 – March 2011, with a grant extension for another year from 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012.
For more information on CENTRES, visit: http://centres.sg
Ethics in Public Policy Making: The Case of Human Enhancement (EPOCH)
There are 12 members in this group which is funded by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme, theme 1.1.1.2: The role of Ethics under EU policy and law: EU policy in Making. Our Centre will host a 2 day workshop in Singapore on 7th to 8th June 2012 on “Global, European and Regional Regulatory Frameworks for Human Enhancement Technology”. The target audience is academics from developing countries and Asia. This two year grant runs from 1st November 2010 to 31st October 2012.
Human Genetics Organisation (HUGO)
Since 2009, Benjamin Capps has been collaborating with Professor Edison Liu (Genomic Institute of Singapore), the President of Human Genome Organisation (HUGO), and the chair of HUGO’s Ethics Committee, Prof Ruth Chadwick (Cardiff University, UK), on a programme in genomic research, ethics and law. With the support of the Brocher Foundation, a writing group, including Benjamin Capps and Tamra Lysaght from CBmE, met in December 2010 at the Brocher Centre, in Geneva, Switzerland, to draft a HUGO White Paper on genomics and ethics. At the Human Genome Meeting held in Dubai in 2011, the paper, entitled Imagined Futures: Capturing the Benefits of Genome Sequencing for Society, was disseminated to the HUGO members for comment.
Medical Practitioners' Values, Attitudes and Beliefs Regarding Decisions at the End of Life
The Lien Foundation commissioned and funded the above project which saw to extensive fieldwork involving qualitative interviews of 78 medical practitioners and coding and analysis of data for the publication of the report. Topics researched included, the meaning of the end of life, the role of families’ at life’s end, healthcare for the dying in Singapore, and our end-of-life legal framework.
The findings of the research will be written in a lay report entitled “What Doctors Say about Care of the Dying: A Qualitative Study”, to be published in September 2011.
World Health Organisation (WHO)
Since 2008, Benjamin Capps has been coordinating a work programme with the WHO’s Technical Working Group on Ethics, and the UNDP/UNFPA/WHO/World Bank - Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction. Our report on Obtaining consent to use human tissues in research is currently being reviewed by the WHO (for further information, please contact the lead author, Tamra Lysaght).
HIDE: Homeland Security Biometric Identification and Personal Detection Ethics
About the project:
The Centre for Biomedical Ethics (CBmE) is a partner in the HIDE project. The project is funded under the European Commission FP7 capacities, Science in Society Ethics and Security Research Funding scheme: CSA (Coordinating), and is coordinated by Prof. Emilio Mordini, the Centre for Science, Society and Citizenship, Italy.
The scope of the project is to create a dialogue platform for the purpose of exploring the ethical and privacy implications of biometrics and personal detection technologies. The project will reframe and promote debate on the most controversial ethical and privacy issues raised by convergence between biometrics detection and identification technologies. The HIDE consortium consists of 11 partner institutions based in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, Slovenia, United Kingdom, United States. The project activities include several integrated activities such as focus group meetings, policy forums, two problem solving workshops, and a final conference.
As part of this project collaboration CBmE hosted a workshop on International Data Sharing and Biometric Identification – The ethical Issues in an Asian and International Context. The workshop took place in Singapore on 2-3 July 2009 at Hotel Royal Plaza on Scotts. The workshop was the first out of two problem solving workshops. The aim of the workshop was to establish a forum for an international dialogue between EU, USA and the APEC countries, in order to identify and discuss some of the ethical and legal issues rising from the use of biometrics for personal detection and surveillance as well as for privacy enhancing purposes.
The duration of the HIDE project is from 1 February 2008 to 31 January 2011. For more information about the HIDE project please see: http://www.hideproject.eu
Clinical Ethics OSCE Training Grant
The Centre was awarded teaching enhancement grant for Clinical Ethics OSCE Training with a total of S$7000 by the Centre for Development of Teaching and Learning (CDTL) for the period from 1 October 2007 to 31 July 2008 in Singapore.
The objective of this training grant was to prepare final year medical students for the Clinical Ethics Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE).
Planned Research
Evaluation studies of medical ethics educational initiatives at CBmE are being planned, and the design of a pre-test for new medical students is underway. A research team comprising clinicians, a medical sociologist, a philosopher and staff at CBmE is now working on a proposal for a major study of Key Issues in Clinical Ethics.
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